Ivo Josipović

Who is Ivo Josipović?

Ivo Josipović is the third President of Croatia since 2010. Josipović entered politics as a member of the League of Communists of Croatia, and played a key role in the democratic transformation of this party as the author of the first statute of the SDP that replaced the SKH-SKJ. He left politics in 1994, but returned in 2003 as an independent Member of Parliament. In addition to politics, Josipović has also worked as a university professor, legal expert, musician and composer.

Josipović entered the 2009–2010 presidential election as the official candidate of the SDP, which he had rejoined in 2008. In the first round he topped eleven rivals with 32.4% of the vote, and entered the second round with the independent candidate Milan Bandić who had secured 14.8%. He went from being almost unknown to the general public in Croatia to winning 60.26% in the final election. He campaigned for Nova Pravednost, calling for a new social and legal framework to address the deep social injustices, corruption and organised crime. This includes the protection of individual rights and the promotion of such fundamental values as equality, human rights, LGBT rights, justice, diligence, social empathy and creativity.